Arizona Joins Nevada’s Legal Fight Against Trump Administration’s Colorado River Cuts

PHOENIX, Oct. 17 (TodayViralUSA) — Arizona has joined Nevada’s federal lawsuit against the Trump administration’s new rules for the Colorado River, putting the state facing the deepest near-term water cuts squarely into the legal fight over how a shrinking supply is shared among seven Western states.

The Arizona Department of Water Resources filed a motion on Friday to intervene in the case Nevada brought in August against the U.S. Department of the Interior. State officials argue that the federal framework for operating the river after 2026 ignores basic elements of the “Law of the River,” the body of compacts, court decisions and statutes that divides the water, and could inflict cuts that would devastate Arizona’s economy.

“We are drawing a line in the sand,” Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a statement.

Who gives up what

Interior’s final plan, released Aug. 21, requires the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada to reduce their use by 1.25 million acre-feet a year for the next two years. Arizona’s share is 760,000 acre-feet, California’s 440,000 and Nevada’s 50,000, according to figures reported by Phoenix station 12News. The states are also asked to voluntarily conserve and store at least 700,000 acre-feet over the two-year period.

KJZZ reported that the plan would trim Lower Basin supplies by about 20% through 2028 and could cut them by roughly 40% after that. Arizona says “sideboards” in the plan for years three through 10 could, if triggered, require Lower Basin reductions of up to 3 million acre-feet a year. One acre-foot is roughly enough water to cover a football field a foot deep.

The Lower Basin states contend that the framework puts no mandatory reductions on the Upper Basin states of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico and fails to hold them accountable for delivering water to Lake Mead.

Nevada welcomes a partner

Nevada, the Colorado River Commission of Nevada and the Southern Nevada Water Authority filed suit on Aug. 24, the first state challenge to the plan. Under the framework’s outer limits, Nevada’s 300,000 acre-foot allocation could be cut by as much as 213,556 acre-feet, or about 71%, according to The Nevada Independent.

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo called Arizona’s decision “an important step in challenging a federal plan that unfairly burdens the Lower Basin,” while saying the state remains committed to a negotiated solution. Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager John Entsminger said both states see significant flaws in the federal environmental review behind the framework.

Bigger fight still possible

Arizona officials stressed that the three Lower Basin states are still working to finalize their own two-year agreement to reduce demand on Lake Mead while the case proceeds. Tom Buschatzke, the state’s lead Colorado River negotiator, said intervening was necessary to protect Arizona’s legal rights.

The lawsuit is not the so-called “nuclear option” that could take the dispute to the Supreme Court, which would most likely require one state to sue another, KJZZ reported. Buschatzke said such a suit against the upstream states remains “not off the table.”